Reverse idler support

ABSTRACT

A reverse idler support article includes a reverse idler support body that has a disk member, a plateau and a hollow cylinder. The disk member is connected to and in facial contact with the plateau that projects from a first disk member surface and the hollow cylinder that projects from a second disk member surface to define an interior space. The disk member and the plateau have an offset hole formed therethrough that is in communication with the interior space. The offset hole is oriented offset from a central axis of the reverse idler support body which extends generally centrally through the disk member and the interior space of the hollow cylinder.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 61/737960, filed on Dec. 17, 2012, the contents of which areincorporated herein in their entirety.

FIELD

The present invention relates to a reverse idler support article. Moreparticularly, the present invention is directed to a reverse idlersupport article for supporting a reverse idler shaft having a reverseidler gear rotatably mounted thereon inside a transmission.

BACKGROUND

Transmissions are usually incorporated into the drivetrain of vehiclespowered by internal combustion engines. A transmission enables a driverof a vehicle to optimize the power of the engine with the forward speedof the vehicle. There are a variety of transmission types such as anautomatic transmission, a manual transmission and a semi-automatictransmission; moreover, transmissions are typically categorized by thenumber of forward gear ratios such as a four-speed transmission, afive-speed transmission and even an eight-speed transmission found inmodern passenger vehicles. Typically, even more gear ratios may be foundin transmissions serving specialized purposes such as those found inso-called heavy duty trucks. Regardless of the type and category of thetransmission, the driver of the vehicle is sometimes required to drivethe vehicle in a reverse direction. To achieve a reverse direction, areverse idler gear assembly is installed into a transmission housing ofthe transmission.

The reverse idler gear assembly includes a reverse idler shaft with areverse idler gear rotatably mounted thereon. The reverse idler shaft isrelatively short in length. Since the reverse idler shaft must besupported on both ends, challenges may be presented to the designengineer to adequately support the reverse idler gear assembly withinthe transmission housing.

SUMMARY

A reverse idler support article may include a reverse idler support bodythat has a disk member, a plateau and a hollow cylinder. The disk membermay be connected to and placed in facial contact with the plateau thatprojects from a first disk member surface and the hollow cylinder thatprojects from a second disk member surface to define an interior space.The disk member and the plateau have an offset hole formed therethroughthat is in communication with the interior space. The offset hole may beoriented offset from a central axis of the reverse idler support body,which extends generally centrally through the disk member and theinterior space of the hollow cylinder.

Advantages of the present invention will be better appreciated in viewof the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention with reference to the accompanying drawings

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to the drawings, exemplary illustrations are shown indetail. Although the drawings represent representative examples, thedrawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may beexaggerated to better illustrate and explain an innovative aspect of anillustrative example. Further, the exemplary illustrations describedherein are not intended to be exhaustive or otherwise limiting orrestricting to the precise form and configuration shown in the drawingsand disclosed in the following detailed description. Exemplaryillustrations are described in detail by referring to the drawings asfollows:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first exemplary embodimentof a reverse idler support article;

FIG. 2 is an exploded side elevation view of the first exemplaryembodiment of the reverse idler support article;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the first exemplary embodiment of thereverse idler support article as assembled;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the first exemplary embodiment ofthe reverse idler support article;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side elevation view of the first exemplaryembodiment of the reverse idler support article;

FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of the first exemplary embodiment ofthe reverse idler support article;

FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of the first exemplary embodiment ofthe reverse idler support article;

FIG. 8 is a front elevation view of the first exemplary embodiment ofthe reverse idler support article;

FIG. 9 is a rear elevation view of the first exemplary embodiment of thereverse idler support article;

FIG. 10 is a front perspective view of a second exemplary embodiment ofthe reverse idler support article;

FIG. 11 is a rear perspective view of the second exemplary embodiment ofthe reverse idler support article;

FIG. 12 is a front elevation view of the second exemplary embodiment ofthe reverse idler support article;

FIG. 13 is a rear elevation view of the second exemplary embodiment ofthe reverse idler support article;

FIG. 14 is a right-side elevation view of the second exemplaryembodiment of the reverse idler support article;

FIG. 15 is a left-side elevation view of the second exemplary embodimentof the reverse idler support article;

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of the second exemplary embodiment ofthe reverse idler support article;

FIG. 17 is a front perspective view of a third exemplary embodiment ofthe reverse idler support article;

FIG. 18 is a rear perspective view of the third exemplary embodiment ofthe reverse idler support article;

FIG. 19 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along lines 19-19 of thethird exemplary embodiment of the reverse idler support articleillustrated in FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a front perspective view of a fourth exemplary embodiment ofthe reverse idler support article;

FIG. 21 is a rear perspective view of the fourth exemplary embodiment ofthe reverse idler support article;

FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view of the reverse idler support articleemployed with a conventional reverse idler gear assembly having areverse idler shaft with a reverse idler gear rotatably mounted thereon;and

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of the reverse idler support articleemployed with a conventional reverse idler gear assembly shown in FIG.22.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, exemplary illustrations will be described with reference tothe attached drawings. The structural components common to those knownby artisans in the applicable art and the structural components commonto respective illustrative embodiments may be represented by the samesymbols and repeated description thereof may be omitted.

A first exemplary illustration of a reverse idler support article 10 ishereinafter described with reference to FIGS. 1-9. As shown in FIGS.1-9, the reverse idler support article 10 has a reverse idler supportbody (also 10) and includes a disk member 12, a plateau 14 and a hollowcylinder 16. The disk member 12 is connected to and may be brought intofacial contact with the plateau 14 projecting from a first disk membersurface thereof 12 a and the hollow cylinder 16 projecting from a seconddisk member surface 12 b thereof to define an interior space 18. By wayof example only and not by way of limitation, the disk member 12, theplateau 14 and the hollow cylinder 16 may be connected to each other byany conventional means such as by an adhesive, welding or mechanicalfasteners. As discussed and illustrated herein below, the disk member12, the plateau 14 and the hollow cylinder 16 may also be fabricated asan integral construction.

With reference to FIG. 1, the disk member 12 extends radially (arrow r)from and about a central axis CA and terminates at a disk memberperipheral end portion 12 c. As best shown in FIG. 2, by example onlyand not by way of limitation, the first disk member surface 12 a and thesecond disk member surface 12 b are essentially planar or flat, aredisposed opposite to one another and are configured to extend parallelto one another. Illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, a disk member hole 12 hextends through and between the first disk member surface 12 a and thesecond disk member surface 12 b. As reflected in FIGS. 1-9, the diskmember hole 12 h is positioned offset from the central axis CA. Withreference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the disk member hole 12 h has a disk memberhole diameter DD.

In FIGS. 1-5, the plateau 14 has a first plateau surface 14 a and asecond plateau surface 14 b that is disposed opposite the first plateausurface 14 a. By example only and not by way of limitation, the firstplateau surface 14 a and the second plateau surface 14 b are essentiallyplanar or flat and extend parallel to each other. As shown in FIGS. 1-5,the plateau 14 includes a plateau hole 14 h. FIGS. 4 and 5 show that theplateau hole 14 h has a plateau diameter PD that may be equal to thedisk member hole diameter DD. The plateau hole 14 h extends through andbetween the first plateau surface 14 a and the second plateau surface 14b, as best shown in FIG. 2. With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the plateau14 is connected to the first disk member surface 12 a in a manner suchthat the first disk member surface 12 a and the first plateau surface 14a are in facial contact with each other. In FIGS. 2-5, the disk memberhole 12 h and the plateau hole 14 h are axially aligned with one anotheralong a common hole axis CHA, which forms a combined hole that will havea uniform diameter if the two holes have a common diameter, extendingalong and about the common hole axis CHA. The combined hole, i.e., thedisk member hole 12 h and the plateau hole 14 h, is hereinafter referredto as “an offset hole 20” and the common hole axis CHA is also referredto herein as “an offset hole axis” CHA.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the hollow cylinder 16 is connected tothe second disk member surface 12 b at the disk member peripheral endportion 12 c and, as such, the hollow cylinder 16 projects from the diskmember 12 to form “a hub” configuration. As illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4, 7and 9, the hollow cylinder 16 has an interior circumferential surface 16a that extends about the central axis CA to define the interior space 18along with the second disk member surface 12 b. As best shown in FIGS. 4and 5, the interior space 18 and the offset hole 20 are in communicationwith each other.

As best shown in FIGS. 6-9, the offset hole 20 is positioned offset fromthe central axis CA and extends through the disk member 12 and theplateau 14 to the interior space 18. More particularly, the central axisCA and the common hole axis CHA that extend parallel to each other aredisposed apart from one another. Although not by way of limitation butby example only, the central axis CA is illustrated as extending throughboth the disk member 12 and the plateau 14. However, one of ordinaryskill in the art would appreciate that the central axis CA might extendthrough the offset hole 20. Thus, as long as the central axis CA and thecommon hole axis CHA are not coexistent with each other, the presentdisclosure encompasses any arrangement where the central axis CA and thecommon hole axis CHA are disposed apart from one another at a distancegreater than zero.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 7 and 9, the reverse idler supportarticle 10 of the first illustrative embodiment of the inventionincludes a rib member 22. The rib member 22 is disposed in the interiorspace 18 and is connected to both the second disk member surface 12 band the interior circumferential surface 16 a of the hollow cylinder 16.As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rib member 22 may be triangularlyshaped, thereby forming a ramp 22 a. As shown in FIGS. 4, 7 and 9, theramp 22 a extends to and between the second disk member surface 12 b andthe interior circumferential surface 16 a of the hollow cylinder 16. Byway of example only and not by way of limitation, the ramp 22 a, asillustrated best in FIG. 9, is oriented within the interior space 18 torectilinearly align along an imaginary straight line IL with the centralaxis CA and the common hole axis CHA.

With reference to FIGS. 1-9, the disk member 12 and the plateau 14 areconfigured differently in size but retain the same shape. As discussedin more detail below, the disk member 12 and the plateau 14 can also beconfigured differently in shape. The disk member 12 defines a diskmember size, for instance, in area or area configuration, and theplateau 14 defines a plateau size, likewise in area or areaconfiguration. The plateau size is smaller than the disk member size. Asshown in FIGS. 1, 2, 6 and 8, the plateau 14 includes a plateauperipheral end portion 14 c that extends circumferentially about theplateau 14. In turn, the plateau peripheral end portion 14 c has a firstplateau peripheral end portion segment 14 c 1 and a second plateauperipheral end portion segment 14 c 2 that are connected to each otherin a continuous loop. As best shown in FIG. 8, the first plateauperipheral end portion segment 14 c 1 is configured to coincide with asegment of the disk member peripheral end portion 12 c. In other words,the first plateau peripheral end portion segment 14 c 1 and the segmentof the disk member peripheral end portion 12 c combine together to forma smooth, continuous, arcuate sidewall section while the second plateauperipheral end portion segment 14 c 2 forms a step-down landing with thefirst disk member surface 12 a of the disk member 12. Also, the offsethole 20 is disposed between the central axis CA and the first plateauperipheral end portion segment 14 c 1.

A second exemplary embodiment of a reverse idler support article 110 ofthe present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 10-16. The secondexemplary embodiment of the reverse idler support article 110 is formedas an integral construction using, for example, conventional machiningtechniques or conventional molding techniques. The second exemplaryembodiment of the reverse idler support article 110 is similar to thefirst exemplary embodiment of the reverse idler support article 10.

As best shown in FIGS. 10, 12, 14 and 15, the second plateau peripheralend portion segment 14 c 2 includes a first notch 124 a and a secondnotch 124 b. The first notch 124 a extends inwardly towards the offsethole axis CHA. As viewed in elevation in FIG. 12, the first notch 124 ais generally semi-circular in shape with rounded distal ends. The secondnotch 124 b extends through the plateau 14 and the disk member 12 toterminate in a passageway 126. The passageway 126 enables fluidcommunication exteriorly of the reverse idler support article 110 andthe interior space 18.

Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 13, the reverse idler supportarticle 110 includes a plurality of rib members 22 disposed in theinterior space 18. As suggested hereinabove, each one of the pluralityof rib members 22 is connected to the second disk member surface 12 band the interior circumferential surface 16 a of the hollow cylinder 16and are triangularly shaped to form ramps 22 a that extend to andbetween the second disk member surface 12 b and the interiorcircumferential surface 16 a of the hollow cylinder 16. Note that oneramp 22 a of one of the plurality of rib members 22 is oriented withinthe interior space 18 to rectilinearly align with the central axis CAand the offset hole axis CHA as shown in FIG. 13. However, one ofordinary skill in the art would appreciate that it is not necessary,required or critical that the one ramp 22 a of one of the plurality ofrib members 22 is oriented within the interior space 18 to rectilinearlyalign with both the central axis CA and the offset hole axis CHA.Although not by way of limitation, the other remaining ones of the ramps22 a of the remaining ones of the plurality of rib members 22 areoriented to rectilinearly align with the offset hole axis CHA alongimaginary lines ILX as illustrated in FIG. 13. It is preferable thateach one of the plurality of rib members 22 rectilinearly align with theoffset hole axis CHA.

A third exemplary embodiment of a reverse idler support article 210 ofthe present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 17-19. The third exemplaryembodiment of the reverse idler support article 110 is formed as anintegral construction using, for example, conventional machiningtechniques or conventional molding techniques. The third exemplaryembodiment of the reverse idler support article 210 is similar to thefirst exemplary embodiment of the reverse idler support article 10 andthe second exemplary embodiment of the reverse idler support article110.

As shown in FIG. 17, the reverse idler support article 210 includes apair of notches 224 angularly disposed apart from one another relativeto the offset hole axis CHA along the second plateau peripheral endportion segment 14 c 2. Although not by way of limitation but by exampleonly, the pair of notches 224 are configured similarly as notch 124 a ofthe second embodiment of the invention. Also, the reverse idler supportarticle 210 includes a first passageway 226 a and a second passageway226 b (see FIG. 18), both of which being in a form of circular holes.The first passageway 226 a extends through the disk member 12 and theplateau 14 and the second passageway 226 b extends through the hollowcylinder 16. Both the first passageway 226 a and the second passageway226 b provide fluid communication exteriorly of the reverse idlersupport article 210 and the interior space 18.

Additionally, as shown in FIG. 19, the hollow cylinder 16 and the diskmember 12 connect to each other at an imaginary interface INT. In theinterior space 18, the connection to and between the hollow cylinder 16and the disk member 12 on both sides of the imaginary interface INT iscurved at a radius R. It should be appreciated that this curvedconnection may be fortified by the addition of the base material used tofabricate the reverse idler support article 210. As a result of thiscurved connection, strength of the reverse idler support article 210 maybe enhanced particularly at and on both sides of the imaginary interfaceINT.

A fourth exemplary embodiment of a reverse idler support article 310 ofthe present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 20 and 21. The fourthexemplary embodiment of the reverse idler support article 310 is similarto the third exemplary embodiment of the reverse idler support article210 except that the fourth exemplary embodiment of the reverse idlersupport article 310 is devoid of passageways.

FIGS. 22 and 23 illustrate the reverse idler support article as it maybe used in practice in conjunction with a conventional reverse idlergear assembly. A conventional reverse idler gear 30 is rotatably mountedonto a conventional reverse idler shaft 32. An end portion 32 a of thereverse idler shaft 32 is supported by the reverse idler support article10, 110, 210 and/or 310 of the present invention within a transmissioncasing (not shown).

With regard to the processes, systems, methods, heuristics, etc.described herein, it should be understood that, although the steps ofsuch processes, etc. have been described as occurring according to acertain ordered sequence, such processes could be practiced with thedescribed steps performed in an order other than the order describedherein. It further should be understood that certain steps could beperformed simultaneously, that other steps could be added, or thatcertain steps described herein could be omitted. In other words, thedescriptions of processes herein are provided for the purpose ofillustrating certain embodiments, and should in no way be construed soas to limit the claimed invention.

Accordingly, it is to be understood that the above description isintended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Many embodiments andapplications other than the examples provided would be apparent uponreading the above description. It is anticipated and intended thatfuture developments will occur in the arts discussed herein, and thatthe disclosed systems and methods will be incorporated into such futureembodiments. In sum, it should be understood that the invention iscapable of modification and variation.

All terms used in the claims are intended to be given their broadestreasonable constructions and their ordinary meanings as understood bythose skilled in the art unless an explicit indication to the contraryin made herein. In particular, use of the singular articles such as “a,”“the,” “said,” etc. should be read to recite one or more of theindicated elements unless a claim recites an explicit limitation to thecontrary.

What is claimed is:
 1. A reverse idler support article, comprising: areverse idler support body including a disk member, a plateau and ahollow body, the disk member connected to and in facial contact with theplateau projecting from a first disk member surface thereof and thehollow body projecting from a second disk member surface thereof todefine an interior space, the disk member and the plateau having anoffset hole formed therethrough and in communication with the interiorspace, the offset hole oriented offset from a central axis extendinggenerally centrally through the disk member and the interior space ofthe hollow body.
 2. A reverse idler support article according to claim1, further comprising at least one rib member disposed in the interiorspace and connected to the disk member and the hollow body.
 3. A reverseidler support article according to claim 2, wherein the at least one ribmember is shaped to form a ramp extending to and between the disk memberand the hollow body.
 4. A reverse idler support article according toclaim 3, wherein the ramp of the at least one rib member is orientedwithin the interior space to rectilinearly align with the central axisand the offset hole.
 5. A reverse idler support article according toclaim 1, further comprising a plurality of rib members disposed in theinterior space, each one of the plurality of rib members being connectedto the second disk member surface and the hollow body.
 6. A reverseidler support article according to claim 5, wherein, each one of theplurality of rib members is triangularly shaped to form a ramp extendingto and between the disk member and the hollow body.
 7. A reverse idlersupport article according to claim 6, wherein a respective ramp of oneof the plurality of rib members is oriented within the interior space torectilinearly align with the central axis and the offset hole andrespective remaining ones of the ramps of the remaining ones of theplurality of rib members are oriented to rectilinearly align with theoffset hole.
 8. A reverse idler support article according to claim 1,further comprising at least one passageway extending at least throughthe disk member for fluid communication exteriorly of the reverse idlersupport article and the interior space.
 9. A reverse idler supportarticle, comprising: a disk member extending radially from and about acentral axis and terminating in a disk member peripheral end portion,the disk member having a flat first disk member surface and a flatsecond disk member surface disposed opposite the first disk membersurface and extending parallel thereto and a disk member hole extendingthrough and between the first disk member surface and the second diskmember surface and positioned offset from the central axis, the diskmember hole having a disk member hole diameter; a plateau having a flatfirst plateau surface and a flat second plateau surface disposedopposite the first plateau surface and extending parallel thereto, theplateau including a plateau hole having a plateau diameter and extendingthrough and between the first plateau surface and the second plateausurface, the plateau diameter and the disk member hole diameter beingequal to each other, the plateau connected to the first disk membersurface in a manner that the first disk member surface and the firstplateau surface are in facial contact with each other and the diskmember hole and the plateau hole are axially aligned with one another toform an offset hole having a uniform diameter and extending along andabout an offset hole axis; and a hollow cylinder connected to the seconddisk member surface at the disk member peripheral end portion andprojecting therefrom, the hollow cylinder having an interiorcircumferential surface extending about the central axis to define aninterior space with the second disk member surface, the interior spacebeing in communication with the offset hole.
 10. A reverse idler supportarticle according to claim 9, further comprising at least one rib memberdisposed in the interior space and connected to the second disk membersurface and the interior circumferential surface of the hollow cylinder.11. A reverse idler support article according to claim 10, wherein theat least one rib member is triangularly shaped to form a ramp extendingto and between the second disk member surface and the interiorcircumferential surface of the hollow cylinder.
 12. A reverse idlersupport article according to claim 11, wherein the ramp of the at leastone rib member is oriented within the interior space to rectilinearlyalign with the offset hole axis.
 13. A reverse idler support articleaccording to claim 9, further comprising a plurality of rib membersdisposed in the interior space, each one of the plurality of rib membersbeing connected to the second disk member surface and the interiorcircumferential surface of the hollow cylinder and triangularly shapedto form a ramp extending to and between the second disk member surfaceand the interior circumferential surface of the hollow cylinder, oneramp of one of the plurality of rib members being oriented within theinterior space to rectilinearly align with the offset hole axis andremaining ones of the ramps of the remaining ones of the plurality ofrib members being oriented to rectilinearly align with the offset holeaxis.
 14. A reverse idler support article according to claim 9, whereinthe offset hole axis and the central axis are disposed apart from andextend parallel to one another.
 15. A reverse idler support articleaccording to claim 9, wherein the disk member defines a disk member sizeand the plateau defines a plateau size being smaller than the diskmember size.
 16. A reverse idler support article according to claim 15,wherein the plateau includes a plateau peripheral end portion having afirst plateau peripheral end portion segment and a second plateauperipheral end portion segment connected to each other to form acontinuous loop, the first plateau peripheral end portion segmentconfigured to coincide with a segment of the disk member peripheral endportion.
 17. A reverse idler support article according to claim 16,wherein the offset hole is disposed between the central axis and thefirst plateau peripheral end portion segment.
 18. A reverse idlersupport article according to claim 16, wherein the second plateauperipheral end portion segment includes at least one notch extendinginwardly towards the offset hole axis.
 19. A reverse idler supportarticle according to claim 9, further comprising at least one passagewayextending at least through the disk member for fluid communicationexteriorly of the reverse idler support article and the interior space.20. A reverse idler support article according to claim 9, furthercomprising a first passageway extending at least through the disk memberand a second passageway extending through the hollow cylinder for fluidcommunication exteriorly of the reverse idler support article and theinterior space.